Battle of Kletsk
Battle of Kletsk | |||||||
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Part of the Crimean–Nogai raids into East Slavic lands | |||||||
Lithuanian battle against the Tatars from A Description of Sarmatian Europe (1578) by Alexander Guagnini | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
Grand Duchy of Lithuania | Crimean Khanate | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Michael Glinski | Feth Giray and Burnaş Giray (sons of Khan Meñli I Giray)[1] | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
7,000[2] | 20,000[3] |
The Battle of Kletsk (
Background
The Lithuanians had allied themselves with
Simultaneously, conflicts emerged within the
Battle
The Lithuanians quickly gathered 7,000 men in Novogrudok. Meanwhile, the Tatars sent half of their force in smaller groups to pillage surrounding areas.[3] On 3 August the Lithuanians learned the Tatar camp's location and marched all night towards Kletsk, covering a distance of about 80 kilometres (50 mi) in 24 hours – an impressive accomplishment for the day and age.[2] The march exhausted Kiszka, who fell ill; command of the Lithuanian army passed to Glinski.[3] Though Glinski was of Tatar roots, he had fought in the Italian Wars and other conflicts in western Europe.[2]
The Tatar camp lay in a strong defensive position between the Lan River and its tributary Tsapra.[3] The Tatars were warned of the approaching Lithuanian army and were ready for battle.[5] Apparently, they decided against trying to outrun the approaching army to protect their slaves and loot. Glinski, on the other hand, wanted to destroy the Tatar army, not merely push it back to Crimea.[2] The heavy Lithuanian cavalry could not cross the rivers and their swampy banks. Therefore, Glinski split his army in half, so that he might attack the Tatars from two sides and block retreat routes, and built two pontoon bridges across the rivers as the combatants exchanged artillery fire.[5]
However, Glinski's political rival Jan Zabrzeziński did not trust Glinski's command and, against orders, attacked the Tatars as soon as one of the bridges was completed on 5 August.[3] The small detachments of Zabrzeziński's men were quickly defeated and the Tatars mockingly displayed their severed heads. This enraged the right wing of the Lithuanian army, which promptly attacked in full force. That prompted the Tatars to concentrate their full force against the Lithuanian right wing, leaving only weak defenses against the Lithuanian left wing, which delayed its attack.[3] When Glinski led the left wing forward to the assault, the Lithuanians easily broke through the defenses and attacked the main Tatar forces from the rear. The Tatar army was split in half: one half was surrounded and defeated while the other retreated.[3]
The Lithuanians pursued the retreating Tatars; it was said that more Tatars died retreating across the Tsapra than in the battle.[5] The Lithuanians achieved a victory and recovered much booty (gold, silver, horses) and many prisoners taken by the Tatars. Remnants of Tatar forces were defeated by locals at Slutsk, Zhytomyr, Ovruch.[2] For a few more days, the Lithuanians waited for Tatar contingents returning to the camp from pillaging Lithuanian villages and countryside.[4]
Aftermath
On 12 August 1506, victorious Michael Glinski entered Vilnius. In honor of the victory,
Khan Meñli I Giray of Crimea hurried to assure Alexander Jagiellon that the raid was unauthorized and asked to maintain peace.
References
- ^ ISBN 9789004191907.
- ^ ISBN 978-9986-827-05-4.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Kulikauskas, Gediminas (2008-10-30). "Garsiausias Lietuvos Didžiosios Kunigaikštystės maištininkas" (in Lithuanian). Verslo žinios. Archived from the original on 2011-07-22.
- ^ a b c d e Baranauskas, Tomas (2006-08-07). "Tomas Baranauskas: Ką mums reiškia pergalė prieš totorius?" (in Lithuanian). OMNI naujienos. Archived from the original on 2008-06-04. Retrieved 2007-12-03.
- ^ a b c d Batūra, Romas (September 2006). "Klecko mūšiui – 500 metų" (PDF). Kariūnas (in Lithuanian). 3 (90): 22–24.
- ^ OCLC 22998871.